Many different types of framing systems and techniques have been used over the years to develop a variety of structural frames for buildings. Specific framing techniques have been established for a variety of building structures such as floors, walls, and roofs. Various types of wood and metal framing have been developed for each of these specific structures. Further, there are many different types of structures that are framed, such as residential housing, steel buildings, and open wall structures.
With respect to roof framing, there are several framing methods have been traditionally used to construct different styles of roofs. Several factors influence roof framing systems. Roof construction must be strong in order to withstand adverse weather conditions, such as snow, wind, and rain. Roofing members must be securely fastened to each other to provide continuity across the building and must be securely anchored to exterior walls of the building. In addition, the roof should provide a pleasing aesthetic appearance. There are several known roofing styles, including a flat roof, shed roof, gable roof, hip roof, mansard roof, gambrel roof, and butterfly roof. These roof styles have been developed utilizing various framing techniques.
Exterior side walls must be specially designed and constructed to support the roof load. The side walls also serve to anchor the roof to the building frame. The exterior side walls further provide an area for attaching wall coverings, and they also provide a base for constructing interior walls, which may or may not support the roof load. Among other important characteristics, a suitable wall construction will have appropriate stiffness, nail-holding power, be easy to work with, and prevent damage (e.g., warping and corrosion) from exposure to the environment.
Traditional framing techniques have proven deficient in many areas. For example, traditional methods of joining lower ends of a roof truss to a wall construction have failed to provide a adequate structure and surface area on which an external roof structure can be mounted. Preferably, the underlying roof support structure should provide a sufficient area for mounting the exterior roof structure, and should be at a constant plane where support for the external roof structure is desired.
Traditionally, rafters have either been notched to fit over vertical side walls (e.g., where extended caves are desired), or a facia board is connected to the lower end of the rafters to extend above the roof height in an attempt to correspond with the elevation (relative to the sloped roof) of the roof support structures on which an exterior roof structure is to be secured.
One problem with this type of traditional construction is that the top edge of the facia board is substantially horizontal and does not correspond to the slope of the roof. Hence, when the roofing material is laid down against the rafters and the facia board, there is a gap between the roofing material and the facia board. When a fastener is driven through the exterior roof structure and into the top surface of the facia board, the external roof member is damaged and may cause a leak in the roof.
If, for example, aluminum sheets are used for the external roof structure, the aluminum material will bend and become indented when the fastener is driven through the top sheet. This indentation or bend may create a reverse flow for water collecting on the roof and may direct water into the hole created by the fastener.
Still another problem with respect to conventional framing techniques relates to the column construction. Most traditional columns are made of a single piece of wood material. When a traditional column made of a single piece of wood (e.g., a 6 inch by 6 inch piece) is chemically treated, the chemical will penetrate only a limited distance from the outside of the piece of wood and will not reach the central portion of the piece of wood.
Another problem arises with respect to defects, such as knots or fissures along the wood grain. When a single piece of wood is used for a column, the defect may render the column subject to failure at that particular location.
The inventive system incorporates a variety of novel features and aspects to provide a complete structural framing system for buildings. This system results in a strong, effective building frame while providing solutions to the above-described problems. Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description which follows .